Claiborne’s Red Flags Are Piling Up

April 3, 2012, by 7 comments

Over the last month or so Vikings G.M. Rick Spielman has used the media to suggest he is open to taking LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne with the third overall selection.

That notion has flown in the face of what almost every draftnik in the world thinks they will do: select USC left tackle Matt Kalil.

It may never be truly known whether or not Spielman’s professed love for Claiborne was a smokescreen or just him telling the truth (my money is on the former), but as we draw nearer to the NFL Draft it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Claiborne being the selection.

Two red flags have recently popped up that should prevent the Vikings from taking the risk at the three spot. 

First, at his Pro Day, it was revealed that Claiborne’s career in the NFL will start with a surgery.  A torn ligament in his left wrist needs to be repaired and it should give teams pause when considering the young corner.  However, Claiborne did continue to play through the injury in college, so maybe some teams will view his toughness as a plus that outweighs the negative that is the injury itself.  At third overall, however, it’d be a tough sell to select a player that immediately has medical questions.

Second, reports have emerged today that Claiborne bombed the Wonderlic Test with a shockingly low score of 4 (out of 50).  The weight scouts should put into Wonderlic scores, and the validity of the reports themselves, can be questioned and argued.  However, this information cannot be ignored by any front office.

So, while Morris Claiborne has accumulated a pair of troubling headlines over the last month, Kalil continues to be regarded as one of the safest selections in the upcoming Draft.

On Tuesday, offensive line coach Jeff Davidson was asked if he thought Kalil had a ceiling in the NFL.

“Do I think he has a ceiling? No,” he said in response.  “I think he’s a pretty good player. I’m going to leave it just at that.”

As I have been all offseason long, I am convinced the Vikings will select Kalil third overall if they stay put in that spot.

Vikes Show Serious Interest In Kicker Zuerlin

April 2, 2012, by 2 comments

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll mention it again:  If the Vikings get the chance to find a young talented kicker and preemptively replace Ryan Longwell they should pounce.

It appears they are doing their due diligence with one of this Draft class’s best legs.

On Tuesday, the Vikings will meet with Missouri Western kicker Greg Zuerlin.  This will be the second time the Vikings have met privately with Zuerlin.

Zuerlin led the nation in field goals made per game with 2.3 and also broke NCAA and MIAA records by making 21 consecutive field goals.  During a recent private workout with the Bengals Zuerlin impressed onlookers by nailing a 57 yard try.

Amazingly, Zuerlin was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this offseason, so his pro day and private workouts are likely to warrant plenty of attention.

Stadium Bill Makes A Leap

April 2, 2012, by No comments yet

It could very well be too little too late, but the Vikings efforts to get a new stadium in Minneapolis took a major step on Monday.

The proposed bill finally was passed by a committee, which is a key hurdle as they try to get it through legislature.  The House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee pushed the stadium proposal, along with the current funding proposal, forward.

There is still a lot of the process to play out before shovels hit the dirt… or before all those purple jerseys are shipped west.

Percy Harvin To Have Shoulder Surgery

April 2, 2012, by 4 comments

We’re still doing April Fools jokes, right? I’m hoping that’s what is behind a recent tweet sent out by Percy Harvin.

According to Jeremy Fowler, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said it is a minor arthroscopic shoulder surgery and it looks like Harvin should not miss any time because of the procedure. This news is just breaking so we will make sure to keep you up-to-date with any further details.

Bryan Walters Added To The Receiver Mix

April 2, 2012, by 1 comment

The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly added former Chargers receiver Bryan Walters to the mix, adding depth but still not solving their most pressing need of finding a true number one at the position.

Walters was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2010 by the Chargers.  He has since bounced back and forth from their practice squad, to their active roster, to the waiver wire, and back to the practice squad.  He was cut by the Chargers last month.

At 6’ 0” and 190 pounds, Walters played in four games last season catching three passes for 27 yards.

Walters will have an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster, but will be a name to keep an eye on when the team heads to Mankato.

Back To Work… After This

April 2, 2012, by 11 comments

I just wanted to write a quick note to let you know that I am back in the saddle now and will be updating the site a lot this coming week.  Last week was filled with a horribly sick family, a heavy work load at the real job, and lastly a bit of travel.

If you live where I do, you tend to feel disconnected quite a bit from the “real world.”  Thus, whenever I travel “outside” I come to a number of realizations and I thought it would be fun to avoid the topic of football in this post and list a few things I learned over the last few days: 

  • Eating at Golden Corral is a horrifying experience that nobody should ever, ever have to endure.  Seriously.
  • I practically grew up in Dairy Queens during the Denis the Menace era because I was lucky enough to have a grandpa that owned and operated multiple franchises in Minnesota.  It had been years since I have seen the server tip my Blizzard upside down like they did in the old days, but I am happy to report that the practice is making a comeback!
  • I’m not a fan of Hollywood making movies out of books that actually get kids to read, because then they don’t have to read them.  However, The Hunger Games is a worthwhile film that they didn’t screw up too badly on the adaptation.  Read the books first, though!
  • When did Wal-Mart raise their prices?
  • My boy made me a proud papa in his first trip to Toys-R-Us.  How many kids will go straight past all of the noisy, flashing, remote control, battery operated toys and grab the plain old dinosaur models instead?  He just grabbed a few of them and sat down in the middle of the store and commenced in playing with old fashioned toys.  Love it!

Okay, glad I got all that off of my chest.  Football updates are coming soon.

Links Of The Week: Draft Month Is Upon Us!

April 2, 2012, by 1 comment

Howdy, everybody. It’s been kind of slow as far as Vikings news goes the past couple days. Nevertheless, we wanted to supply everyone with some of our favorite articles of the week during this little dry spell. So, here we go:

First things first, Donovan McNabb is hilarious. First he proclaims that Robert Griffin III isn’t going to work out in Washington. Now, in response to the declaration that Tim Tebow is the most criticized quarterback in the NFL, McNabb vehemently insisted that, in fact, he [himself] is.

Chris Kluwe is getting his #5 jersey back.

Rick Spielman recently did a pretty lengthy, insightful interview with PFT Live. Check it out.

And then, for some analysis on Spielman’s various interviews and smokescreens, the Vikings Age has a nice little article wondering if Spielman maybe tipped his hand on Kalil.

Could someone really want to come up and take the Vikings #3 spot for Ryan Tannehill?! Some believe it is quite possible.

There were some rule changes decided upon at the recent Owner’s meeting. Still no 18 game season, though.

Ugh… Is this stadium issue ever going to end? I know you have heard it before, but it seems like it is closer than ever with things supposedly ramping up this week in the House of Representatives.

Check out who the Vikings have scheduled private workouts with so far. What, no receivers?

Much like we did a few days ago, The Vikings Age have put together their own report card of sorts for how the Vikings (and Spielman) have done so far this offseason.

I’m going to miss Visanthe on this team. Here’s a short video of him recently signing autographs for fans (a goodbye of sorts) and answering a few questions (including how he feels about Darren Sharper and the bounty scandal, if he “Twitters from the throne”, and more).

Now that we are officially in draft month, check out the most recent Mock Draft of Walter Football. It includes five full rounds so you can see more than the [inevitable] Kalil selection.

And finally, an official announcement: Vikings Territory will be participants in the best community Mock Draft on the internet right now representing the Minnesota Vikings along with two other “GMs”. You can check out the previous mocks (we’ll be #MockThree) at the #MockOne website. We’ll have more info and details on this as it starts up.